Repository logo
 

Theses and dissertations (Management Sciences)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/14

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Business

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evaluating the influence of social responsibility practices on the performance of small and medium automotive manufacturers in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
    (2023-03) Mvakwendlu, Nonophela Buhle; Zondo, Robert Walter Dumisani
    Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an important business sector in South Africa, while also contributing to new job opportunities and development all over the world. It is assumed the implementation of a strategic philosophy such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can enhance performance of SMEs, as it involves organisations acting responsibly and ethically towards society, the environment and other stakeholders to maximise positive impact, not merely increase profit. CSR has received much attention in the business world, nevertheless, several SMEs in the manufacturing sector do not recognise how their practice closely affects employees, society, and the environment. Studies show manufacturers deposit their waste into some of the country’s main rivers, which affects individuals in the surroundings, demonstrating the lack of business manufacturers involvement in CSR practices. Hence, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which CSR practices influence SME performance in the automotive manufacturing sector of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The study objective is thus to evaluate the influence of environmental CSR practices, ethical CSR labour practices, and the public good of CSR, on SME performance. Being quantitative in nature, structured questionnaires were employed to gather data from the targeted population of 120 SME owners in the automotive manufacturing sector, with the sampling size of 110 SME owners and 10 SME owners for pilot study. The study reveals the demographic variables that have a relationship with CSR practices, as well as variables that do not. This includes environmental, ethical labour and public good CSR practices and their relationship with demographic variables. Ethical CSR labour practices showed no relationship with any demographic variable when using ANOVA technique. All statistical results are achieved with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) techniques, including descriptive statistics, chisquare, Pearson correlation co-efficient and ANOVA techniques. The study is limited to automotive manufacturing SMEs and CSR practices.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The influence of ethical leadership and organisational culture on employee commitment in the City of Johannesburg
    (2023-03) Ndou, Joseph Mbulaheni; Agbenyegah, Albert Tchey
    The key driver of this study was to explore the influence of ethical leadership and organisational culture on employee commitment in the City of Johannesburg. The study employed a quantitative research approach, and simple random sampling was used to select research participants. This study entailed a cross-sectional study. Four hundred online questionnaires were distributed to research participants, of whom 234 were returned, giving an initial response rate of 58.5%. Of the 234 online returned questionnaires, 14 were found to be invalid and were omitted from the study analysis. This resulted in a valid response rate of 55%. The study’s findings have revealed that ethical leadership is key in positively influencing employee commitment. Therefore, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality employees should be trained to increase their knowledge of ethical leadership, apply it and be empowered to enhance employee commitment. Moreover, the study has also revealed that organisational culture contributes substantially to employees’ commitment to the City of Johannesburg. Therefore, the City of Johannesburg's leadership should create a strong culture that will result in a positive environment. This would assist in retaining employees and thus reduce employee turnover. Moreover, the study has also revealed that organisational culture contributes substantially to employees’ commitment to the City of Johannesburg. Therefore, the City of Johannesburg's leadership should create a strong culture resulting in a positive environment. This would assist in retaining employees and thus reduce employee turnover. Therefore, the study recommends that the City of Johannesburg recruit ethical employees and create a conducive organisational culture to foster employee commitment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A systems' thinking approach to entrepreneurial leadership : an analysis of SMMES in the Gauteng Province
    (2021-11-17) Mhlongo, Thabisile; Daya, Preeya
    Despite the efforts of the South African Government to stimulate entrepreneurial opportunities through policies, strategies, and programmes, many Small, Medium and Micro Businesses remain unsustainable. However, SMMEs often experience various challenges and studies have shown that SMMEs in South Africa rarely survive in their first year of existence. One problem SMMEs face in South Africa is poor leadership. Further, insufficient financial resources, lack of business knowledge and management, and inadequate institutional support thwart sustainable growth and have a negative effect on the overall performance of SMMEs. Thus, having an understanding and insight into the various leadership problems and dynamics encountered by the SMMEs could foster the development of strategies to improve the performance of SMMEs. This study evaluated the application of entrepreneurial leadership capabilities to respond to uncertainty, challenges, and opportunities in the entrepreneurial system and understand how the systems thinking approach can be applied in entrepreneurial leadership to address the complex dynamics of the entrepreneurial ecosystems. Overall, the study identified the pathways to entrepreneurial leadership and deepened the current understanding of the concept of entrepreneurial leadership in selected SMMEs operating in the Gauteng province. This study adopted a holism model underpinned by methodological pluralism and mixed- method strategy. It used a pragmatist philosophical approach and mixed-method case study to achieve its objectives. A three-tier research plan was used comprising semi-structured interviews, causal loop diagrams, and simulation modelling to address the research aim and the objectives.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A proposed integrated model for innovative business leadership for the attainment of sustainable growth in small and medium manufacturing enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2020-04) Ngibe, Musawenkosi; Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    Globally, small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) have been identified as a major source of employment and the foundation for successful entrepreneurship. They can also be a catalyst of economic transformation due to their significant contribution to any country’s gross domestic product (GDP). They have therefore been identified as key assets for any country with aspirations towards transformation, poverty reduction, employment redistribution, business innovation and strong economic growth. In countries such as Japan, the United States, China, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, manufacturing growth attributable to SMEs has strengthened, indicating that any predicted global downturn in industrial production may be mitigated by their input. This indicates beyond reasonable doubt that the role of manufacturing SMEs is central to any country and, it can be argued, more especially to developing countries like South Africa. Thus, their diminishing contribution towards GDP in recent years has been a significant concern of the South African Government, and of investors and policy makers, and has led to additional support being provided for the emergence and sustainable growth of manufacturing SMEs in the country. Statistics reflect that in 2018 manufacturing industry contributed only13.53% to GDP compared with 15.2% in 2013, and around 20% a decade earlier. This declining contribution has been associated with critical negative factors that affect the innovative leadership skills required to implement business innovation, manage a turbulent business environment, and achieve sustainable growth in the sector. Many researchers have studied the factors that contribute to manufacturing SMEs being successfully established. These factors include management skills, leadership ability, access to finance, the availability of resources, the economic climate, and the availability of necessary infrastructure and raw materials. The role of government regulations and compliance requirements have also been highlighted as critical factors affecting the sustainability and growth of manufacturing SMEs in the country. However, despite extensive research being carried out in the field, there remains a serious gap in studies which provide an in-depth understanding of those innovative business leadership abilities and business characteristics that critically influence manufacturing SMEs. These abilities are known to instigate, develop and promote business innovation that will subsequently attain sustainable growth. Theoretical models of the factors affecting and influencing innovative business leadership in this field are also lacking. Therefore, it can be argued that this is a critical area of research which has the potential to improve the current position of manufacturing SMEs in South Africa. This study has specific reference to manufacturing SMEs within KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Therefore, the study aimed to identify the critical factors affecting innovative business leadership within manufacturing SMEs in KZN and to propose a prototype model for improving such leadership. Justification for the study stems from the high failure rate currently experienced in the sector which is attributable to several significant challenges faced by manufacturing SMEs in South Africa. The study was conducted within the Province of KZN, employing a quantitative research method. The population of the study consisted of 384 manufacturing SME leaders, owners and managers. A non-probability, convenience, sampling technique was adopted, while a closed-ended questionnaire was used as the primary data collection tool. Inferential and descriptive statistical analysis of the data was undertaken using the SPSS (version 23.0) computer package. The research findings indicate that manufacturing SMEs are severely affected by a variety of challenges and that they face significant hurdles that negatively affect their performance. These impact on the business leaders’ ability to implement the innovations that could promote, support and sustain the growth of their firms. The results of the study identified education and training as major positive contributory factors affecting innovative business leadership. Furthermore, technical abilities, access to financial support, and ICT awareness were also identified as critical catalysts to business success. The study therefore seeks to provide key insights into both the theoretical and practical implications of innovative leadership for manufacturing SMEs. It further provides an extensive range of recommendations and proposes a theoretical framework for those factors that can be understood by business leaders, government officials and policy makers to effect remedies for the current challenges faced by the sector.